"This is one of the most important works on French Jewish intellectual and cultural history to have appeared in recent years. In a deft revision of the accepted picture of French Jewry, Graetz interweaves intellectual and cultural trends and a close study of political developments to present a composite picture of a group in the process of fundamental transformation."—Aron Rodrigue, Stanford University

• Introduction; 1. From dispersal to Jacobin unity: Jewish communal life restructured under the impact of the revolution and Napoleon; 2. Paris becomes the centre of French Jewry; 3. Rothschild, King of Jews; 4. Breaking stereotypes; 5. The spirit of enterprise; 6. From religion to politics: the republic of the Hebrews; 7. Encounters and clashes with the republican survivors of 1848; 8. The periphery and the center meet: the creation of the Alliance Israelite Universelle; Conclusion; Notes; Index.